Bates numbering
Stamp a PDF with a prefix and a fixed-width running number — SMITH-000001 through SMITH-000248 — in your browser, and be told what the next file in the set starts at.
- Runs on
- Your device
- Cost
- Free
- Account
- Not needed
- Watermark
- None
Your browser would not let the file travel between pages (private mode does this) — open Page Numbers and drop it there instead.
What happens to your file
It runs in this tab.
Your own browser does the work. Open the Network tab and watch it run: no request carries your file, and there is nothing on a server of ours to delete afterwards.
Skip the front matter AND start the count after it — “1 of 23”, not 24.
- No watermark The result is your file, unmarked. There is no paid tier that removes something we put there.
- No account Page Numbers is exactly the same signed in or out. There is nothing to sign up for.
- No ads, no waiting No banners, no upsell pop-up, and no invented thirty-second queue standing between you and your download.
- Nothing to install It is a web page. The same one works on a phone: no app, no extension, no browser plugin.
- What it reads PDF. Anything it cannot read is turned down with a reason on screen, not a silent nothing.
No file at hand? Open Page Numbers anyway →
How the workspace works
It plays on its own. Tap a step to hold it there.
read here, not uploaded the preview updates as you change it working in this tab never left your device A drawing of the workspace — not a screenshot.
Why the zeros matter
A Bates number is one identifier per page, and its width is not decoration. SMITH-000007 and SMITH-000248 sort next to each other in a file listing and in a spreadsheet column; SMITH-7 and SMITH-248 do not, because a string sort puts 248 before 7. The same width is what lets a number be read back over a phone or typed into a citation without anyone having to ask how many zeros there were.
So the two things this page asks for are the prefix — a matter code, an exhibit code, or nothing at all — and how many digits the number is padded to. An empty prefix is allowed and gives you plain 000007.
Cover sheets and exhibit slips carry no number
Most numbering tools offer a "start at" box and stop there, which numbers every sheet including the ones that should not be in the sequence. This one takes how many pages at the front to leave out, separately from what number the first stamped page shows. A cover sheet and an exhibit slip get nothing; the first page of the document itself gets your starting number.
The count of what will be numbered, what will be skipped, and the first and last identifiers are on screen before you commit — computed from the document you actually dropped in, not from an example.
It tells you where the next file starts
A production is rarely one file, and every tool in this category numbers one at a time. Continuing the sequence means working out where the last file stopped and typing it into the next one. The arithmetic is trivial and getting it wrong is not: a repeated or skipped Bates number in a production is a real problem, and it is found late.
So this page does the arithmetic and shows the answer — the number the next file should start at — rather than leaving it as homework. It does not chain the files for you; you still open the next one and type the number. But you are copying a figure rather than deriving one.
Nothing is uploaded
The documents that get Bates stamped are the ones least suited to being handed to a stranger. This runs entirely inside the browser tab: the PDF is read with the browser’s own file API and stamped with pdf-lib on your machine. You can keep the Network tab open while it works and watch that no request carries the file.
There is no account, no daily limit and no watermark, because there is no server in the path to meter or to pay for.
Twelve questions
Questions
Can it continue a Bates sequence across several files?
Not automatically, and it says so rather than implying otherwise. It numbers one document at a time, and when the format is Bates it shows you the number the next file in the set should start at. You open the next file and type that number in. The step it removes is the arithmetic, which is where the repeated and skipped numbers come from.
What does the prefix look like, and can it be empty?
The prefix is printed before the number exactly as you type it, so SMITH- gives SMITH-000001 and EXH gives EXH000001. Leaving it empty is allowed and gives you the padded number on its own, 000001.
Can the cover page be left out of the sequence?
Yes, and that is separate from the starting number. Say how many pages at the front carry no number and what number the first stamped page shows, and a cover sheet or exhibit slip stays blank while the document itself starts at 1 — or at whatever number the previous file in the production ended before.
Where on the page does the number go?
Any of six positions — the three top corners and centre, or the three along the bottom — with the distance from the page edge and the type size both adjustable. Bottom right is the convention for a Bates stamp and is what most productions expect.
Is Page Numbers free?
Yes. Free, with no watermark, no account and no daily cap. It runs entirely in your browser, so there is nothing to meter.
Does my file get uploaded?
No. Everything happens in this browser tab, so the file never leaves your device. You can keep the Network tab open while it runs: no request carries your file.
Do I need an account?
No. This tool is exactly the same signed in or out.
Will it add a watermark?
No. The result is your file, unmarked. There is no paid tier that removes something we put there, because we do not put anything there.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. It is the same web page, laid out for a small screen. Nothing to install, no app and no browser extension.
Are there ads, or a queue before the download?
No. No banners, no upsell pop-up, and no invented delay. When the job is done the file is ready.
Can the numbering start after the cover page?
Yes. Choose which page the counting starts on and which page shows the first number, so a cover and a contents page can be skipped and page 1 lands where you want it. That is the thing most free numberers cannot do, and it is why a numbered report usually has to be redone by hand.
Does it change the pages themselves?
It draws the number onto each page, so the file that comes back is the file you sent with numbers on it. Nothing else about the document moves. It happens in this browser and the document is never uploaded.
Open Page Numbers
Free, no account — and your file never leaves your device.